1. outline, précis. Summary,brief,digest,synopsis are terms for a short version of a longer work. A summary is a brief statement or restatement of main points, especially as a conclusion to a work: a summary of a chapter. A brief is a detailed outline, by heads and subheads, of a discourse (usually legal) to be completed: a brief for an argument. A digest is an abridgement of an article, book, etc., or an organized arrangement of material under heads and titles: a digest of a popular novel; a digest of Roman law. A synopsis is usually a compressed statement of the plot of a novel, play, etc.: a synopsis of Hamlet. 2. short, condensed, compact, succinct. 3. curt, terse, peremptory.

early 15c., from Medieval Latin summarius "of or pertaining to the sum or substance," from Latin summa "whole, gist" (see sum). Sense of "done promptly" is first found 1713. The noun meaning "a summary statement or account" is first recorded c.1500, from Latin summarium "an epitome, abstract, summary," from summa "totality, gist."